Bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by field of study: Selected years, 1970-71 through 2009-10

Degree and year

Number of degrees conferred

Percentage distribution of degrees conferred

Total degrees

Humani-ties1

Social and behavioral sciences2

Natural sciences3

Computer sciences and engi-neering4

Educa-tion

Business

Other fields5

Total degrees

Humani-ties1

Social and behavioral sciences2

Natural sciences3

Computer sciences and engi-neering4

Educa-tion

Busi-ness

Other fields5

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

Bachelor's degrees

1970-71

839,730

143,549

193,511

81,916

52,570

176,307

115,396

76,481

100.0

17.1

23.0

9.8

6.3

21.0

13.7

9.1

1975-76

925,746

150,736

176,674

91,596

52,328

154,437

143,171

156,804

100.0

16.3

19.1

9.9

5.7

16.7

15.5

16.9

1980-81

935,140

134,139

141,581

78,092

90,476

108,074

200,521

182,257

100.0

14.3

15.1

8.4

9.7

11.6

21.4

19.5

1985-86

987,823

132,891

134,468

76,228

139,459

87,147

236,700

180,930

100.0

13.5

13.6

7.7

14.1

8.8

24.0

18.3

1990-91

1,094,538

172,485

183,762

70,209

104,910

110,807

249,165

203,200

100.0

15.8

16.8

6.4

9.6

10.1

22.8

18.6

1995-96

1,164,792

193,404

199,895

93,443

102,503

105,384

226,623

243,540

100.0

16.6

17.2

8.0

8.8

9.0

19.5

20.9

2000-01

1,244,171

214,107

201,681

89,772

117,011

105,458

263,515

252,627

100.0

17.2

16.2

7.2

9.4

8.5

21.2

20.3

2004-05

1,439,264

254,847

242,506

99,370

133,655

105,451

311,574

291,861

100.0

17.7

16.8

6.9

9.3

7.3

21.6

20.3

2005-06

1,485,242

261,696

249,619

105,899

128,886

107,238

318,042

313,862

100.0

17.6

16.8

7.1

8.7

7.2

21.4

21.1

2006-07

1,524,092

265,808

254,222

113,077

124,024

105,641

327,531

333,789

100.0

17.4

16.7

7.4

8.1

6.9

21.5

21.9

2007-08

1,563,069

274,535

259,950

117,200

122,084

102,582

335,254

351,464

100.0

17.6

16.6

7.5

7.8

6.6

21.4

22.5

2008-09

1,601,368

278,387

262,771

121,009

122,408

101,708

347,985

367,100

100.0

17.4

16.4

7.6

7.6

6.4

21.7

22.9

2009-10

1,650,014

280,993

269,996

125,809

128,318

101,265

358,293

385,340

100.0

17.0

16.4

7.6

7.8

6.1

21.7

23.4

Master's degrees

1970-71

235,564

34,510

22,256

17,152

18,535

87,666

26,490

28,955

100.0

14.6

9.4

7.3

7.9

37.2

11.2

12.3

1975-76

317,477

37,079

26,120

15,742

19,403

126,061

42,592

50,480

100.0

11.7

8.2

5.0

6.1

39.7

13.4

15.9

1980-81

302,637

35,130

22,168

13,579

21,434

96,713

57,888

55,725

100.0

11.6

7.3

4.5

7.1

32.0

19.1

18.4

1985-86

295,850

34,834

20,409

14,055

30,216

74,816

66,676

54,844

100.0

11.8

6.9

4.8

10.2

25.3

22.5

18.5

1990-91

342,863

35,984

23,582

13,664

34,774

87,352

78,255

69,252

100.0

10.5

6.9

4.0

10.1

25.5

22.8

20.2

1995-96

412,180

40,795

30,164

16,154

39,422

104,936

93,554

87,155

100.0

9.9

7.3

3.9

9.6

25.5

22.7

21.1

2000-01

473,502

40,625

30,330

15,360

44,098

127,829

115,602

99,658

100.0

8.6

6.4

3.2

9.3

27.0

24.4

21.0

2004-05

580,151

47,655

35,782

18,584

53,404

167,490

142,617

114,619

100.0

8.2

6.2

3.2

9.2

28.9

24.6

19.8

2005-06

599,731

49,584

37,139

19,574

50,444

174,620

146,406

121,964

100.0

8.3

6.2

3.3

8.4

29.1

24.4

20.3

2006-07

610,597

50,048

38,702

19,794

48,221

176,572

150,211

127,049

100.0

8.2

6.3

3.2

7.9

28.9

24.6

20.8

2007-08

630,666

52,087

39,926

20,730

51,517

175,880

155,637

134,889

100.0

8.3

6.3

3.3

8.2

27.9

24.7

21.4

2008-09

662,079

53,198

42,655

21,090

55,908

178,564

168,375

142,289

100.0

8.0

6.4

3.2

8.4

27.0

25.4

21.5

2009-10

693,025

54,927

43,974

22,422

57,299

182,139

177,684

154,580

100.0

7.9

6.3

3.2

8.3

26.3

25.6

22.3

Doctor's degrees6

1970-71

64,998

4,402

5,804

9,126

3,816

6,041

774

35,035

100.0

6.8

8.9

14.0

5.9

9.3

1.2

53.9

1975-76

91,007

5,461

7,314

7,591

3,118

7,202

906

59,415

100.0

6.0

8.0

8.3

3.4

7.9

1.0

65.3

1980-81

98,016

4,827

6,698

7,473

2,860

7,279

808

68,071

100.0

4.9

6.8

7.6

2.9

7.4

0.8

69.4

1985-86

100,280

4,648

6,548

7,668

3,800

6,610

923

70,083

100.0

4.6

6.5

7.6

3.8

6.6

0.9

69.9

1990-91

105,547

4,858

6,944

9,378

6,006

6,189

1,185

70,987

100.0

4.6

6.6

8.9

5.7

5.9

1.1

67.3

1995-96

115,507

6,356

7,901

10,997

7,223

6,246

1,366

75,418

100.0

5.5

6.8

9.5

6.3

5.4

1.2

65.3

2000-01

119,585

6,466

9,021

10,190

6,315

6,284

1,180

80,129

100.0

5.4

7.5

8.5

5.3

5.3

1.0

67.0

2004-05

134,387

6,449

8,925

11,359

7,586

7,681

1,498

90,889

100.0

4.8

6.6

8.5

5.6

5.7

1.1

67.6

2005-06

138,056

6,628

8,835

12,097

8,734

7,584

1,711

92,467

100.0

4.8

6.4

8.8

6.3

5.5

1.2

67.0

2006-07

144,690

6,804

8,997

13,156

9,523

8,261

2,029

95,920

100.0

4.7

6.2

9.1

6.6

5.7

1.4

66.3

2007-08

149,378

7,049

9,355

13,754

9,675

8,491

2,084

98,970

100.0

4.7

6.3

9.2

6.5

5.7

1.4

66.3

2008-09

154,425

7,261

9,711

14,271

9,381

9,028

2,123

102,650

100.0

4.7

6.3

9.2

6.1

5.8

1.4

66.5

2009-10

158,558

7,739

9,778

14,321

9,370

9,233

2,245

105,872

100.0

4.9

6.2

9.0

5.9

5.8

1.4

66.8

1 Includes degrees in Area, ethnic, cultural, and gender studies; English language and literature/letters; Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics; Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities; Multi/interdisciplinary studies; Philosophy and religious studies; Theology and religious vocations; and Visual and performing arts.

2 Includes Psychology; and Social sciences and history.

3 Includes Biological and biomedical sciences; Mathematics and statistics; and Physical sciences and science technologies.

4 Includes Computer and information sciences; Engineering; and Engineering technologies.

5 Includes Agriculture and natural resources; Architecture and related services; Communication, journalism, and related programs; Communications technologies; Family and consumer sciences/human sciences; Health professions and related clinical sciences; Legal professions and studies; Library science; Military technologies; Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies; Precision production; Public administration and social services; Security and protective services; Transportation and materials moving; and Not classified by field of study.

6 Includes Ph.D., Ed.D., and comparable degrees at the doctoral level. Includes most degrees formerly classified as first-professional, such as M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees.

NOTE:Degree-granting institutions grant associate’s or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. The new Classification of Instructional Programs was initiated in 2002-03. The figures for earlier years have been reclassified when necessary to make them conform to the new taxonomy. To facilitate trend comparisons, certain aggregations have been made of the degree fields as reported in the IPEDS "Completions Survey": "Agriculture and natural resources" includes Agriculture, agriculture operations, and related sciences and Natural resources and conservation; "Business" includes Business, management, marketing, and related support services and Personal and culinary services; and "Engineering technologies" includes Engineering technologies/technicians, Construction trades, and Mechanic and repair technologies/technicians. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.